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Aquino Vs Comelec
Aquino Vs Comelec
COMELEC
G.R. No. 189793. April 7, 2010
Perez, J.
FACTS:
Senator Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and Mayor Jesse Robredo, as public
officers, taxpayers and citizens, seek the nullification as unconstitutional of
Republic Act No. 9716, entitled "An Act Reapportioning the Composition of the
First (1st) and Second (2nd) Legislative Districts in the Province of Camarines
Sur and Thereby Creating a New Legislative District From Such
Reapportionment."
The said law created an additional legislative district for the Province of
Camarines Sur by reconfiguring the existing first and second legislative districts
of the province
The first district municipalities of Libmanan, Minalabac, Pamplona, Pasacao, and
San Fernando were combined with the second district Municipalities of Milaor
and Gainza to form a new second legislative district.
ISSUES:
Whether or Not RA 9716 violates Article VI, Section 5(3) of 1987 Constitution.
RULING:
No, RA 9716 does not violate the Article VI, Section 5(3) of 1987
Constitution.
The provision draws a plain and clear distinction between the entitlement of a city
to a district on one hand, and the entitlement of a province to a district on the
other. For while a province is entitled to at least a representative, with nothing
mentioned about population, a city must first meet a population minimum of
250,000 in order to be similarly entitled
The use by the subject provision of a comma to separate the phrase "each city
with a population of at least two hundred fifty thousand" from the phrase "or each
province" point to no other conclusion than that the 250,000 minimum population
is only required for a city, but not for a province.
CONCLUSION:
The petition is DISMISSED. Republic Act No. 9716 entitled "An Act
Reapportioning the Composition of the First (1st) and Second (2nd) Legislative Districts
in the Province of Camarines Sur and Thereby Creating a New Legislative District from
Such Reapportionment" is a VALID LAW.